PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

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PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

• Arkansas Cancer Registrars Association
• versus
• Arkansas Central Cancer Registry
• Do you know the Difference?

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Presenter

• Laurel Nowden
• President, ArCRA

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What is the Arkansas Cancer
Registrars Association a.k.a. ArCRA?

• A non-profit volunteer association made up of
  individuals involved in cancer registry
  activities, primarily those individuals working
  in Arkansas, who pay annual membership dues to
  the association.
• Chartered on April 23, 1975.
• Membership may be on an individual or
  organizational level.

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ArCRA Purpose

• To promote research and education in a Cancer
  Registry and to be a greater service to the
  cancer patient and physician
• To raise the level of knowledge and performance
  of Cancer Registrars through continuing education
• To disseminate information to members of the
  Association regarding current activities,
  research and trends in the cancer field
• To initiate and/or participate in programs to
  improve and standardize the complying of Cancer
  Registry information
• To be a non-profit organization and not a trade
  union or collective bargaining agency

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Membership Categories

• Active CTR or person whose primary occupations
  is involved with any or all facets of cancer
  registry work
• Associate any person interested in the purpose
  of ArCRA who does not meet the qualifications
  of active membership, shall not vote, hold
  office or chair a committee but may serve on a
  committee
• Student person enrolled in a college level
  curriculum with same rights as Associate
• Honary Membership any person who has made a
  significant contribution to the profession of
  cancer registry or has rendered distinguished
  service in the profession or its related fields
• Charter Membership any persons signing
  adoptionof the ArCRA Bylaws on April 23, 1975
  who joined the association on or before the
  first annual meeting

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Officers

• President
• President-Elect
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Immediate Past President

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Executive Committee Article VI-outlines the 12
duties of the executive committee

• Fill Vacancies
• Handle Business Affairs
• Required to have Executive meeting before and
  after annual meeting
• Address all concerns regarding membership i.e.
  grievance, censor, mediation
• Discipline a member violation of ArCRA Code of
  Ethics/provision of Bylaws

• Remove from Office
• Establish budgetary/financial control procedures
• Audit Treasury Books at end of term
• President appoints Nomination Committee
• Call meeting upon request and provide a complete
  report of each meeting.

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Committees

• 5 Standing Committees
• Ways Means
• Education Program
• Newsletter
• Nominating Membership
• Bylaws-Chaired by the Executive Committee
• Special Committees
• Ways Means May be created by the Executive
  Committee
• Membership may recommend a special committee

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Liaison Representation

• Immediate Past President serves as a liaison to
  NCRA and must be a member of NCRA
• President will appoint a liaison if Immediate
  Past President is a not a member of NCRA
• A member of the Arkansas Central Cancer Registry
  serves as a liaison to ArCRA
• President and President-Elect serve as liaisons
  to the Arkansas Central Cancer Registry Advisory
  Board.

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ArCRA Activities

• Annual Educational Conferences
• Education Scholarships ArCRA state conference
  meeting and CTR examinations
• ArCRA Fundraisers silent auction at annual
  ArCRA meeting
• NCRA State Basket ArCRA sends a basket to the
  national meeting that represents items from our
  state

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What is the Arkansas Central
Cancer Registry?

• A population based registry whose goal is to
  collect timely and complete data on all cancer
  cases diagnosed in the state.
• Located within the Center for Public Health
  Practice of the Arkansas Department of Health and
  Human Services
• Partially funded by Centers for Disease Control
  and Prevention (CDC)

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ACCR Functional Responsibilities

• Responsible for maintaining a statewide cancer
  incidence reporting system monitoring data
  accuracy, reliability, and completeness through
  systematic quality assurance procedures
  analyzing cancer incidence and mortality data
  disseminating cancer information and
  facilitating studies related to cancer
  prevention and control.
• Cancer Registry data are used to identify
  populations at increased risk of cancer,
  investigate public concerns of suspected
  excesses of cancer due to environmental or other
  factors, and monitor trends in cancer incidence
  and mortality so that appropriate and timely
  interventions are undertaken.

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ACCR Mission Statement

• The mission of the Arkansas Central Cancer
  Registry is to reduce incidence and mortality of
  cancer in Arkansas. By collecting, analyzing, and
  researching cancer information it is hoped cancer
  incidence and mortality rates in Arkansas will
  decrease over time.
• By reducing the burden of cancer in Arkansas we
  are fulfilling the mission of the Arkansas
  Department of Health, which is to assure
  conditions which encourage a healthier quality of
  life for people in the state.

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ACCR was designed to

• Ensure the quality, accuracy and timeliness of
  data reported to the state registry. This is
  achieved by various means
• Casefinding and re-abtracting audits
• Visual editing of data
• Consolidating cases
• Monitoring timeliness of statewide cancer
  registry data submissions

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ACCR Activities

• Provide support to hospital/reporting cancer
  registries
• Provide updates on all known cancer registry
  standards, rules and guidelines
• Provide training for registrars to help enhance
  and improve skills in the field of cancer
  registration
• Monitor cancer trends
• Determine cancer patterns in various populations

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ACCR Activities (continued)

• Guide planning and evaluations of cancer control
  programs
• Help set priorities for allocating health
  resource
• Advance clinical, epidemiological and health
  services research
• Provide information for a national database of
  cancer incidence.

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ACCR Community Service

• Team members with
• Arkansas Cancer Coalition
• American Cancer Society

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Summarizing the Differences

• Volunteer organization
• Made up of dues paying members
• Members are cancer registrars from various
  healthcare organizations throughout the state who
  collect and submit that cancer data to ACCR
• Main mission is to focus on advocacy and
  education of the membership cancer registrars

• Mandated by law
• Staffed department within the Center for Public
  health practice of the Arkansas Department of
  Health and Human Services
• State and federally funded
• Population-based cancer registry that collects
  and analyzes cancer data from cancer registries
  and other healthcare entities located throughout
  the state
• Conduct casefinding, re-abstracting and
  timeliness audits on cancer data submitted by
  cancer registries
• Conduct educational sessions for cancer registrars

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SPECIAL CONTRIBUTIONS

• ArCRA Executive Board
• Process Improvement Committee
• Bylaws Committe

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Questions?
ArCRA versus ACCR